Electric igniter for explosive-engines.



No. 820,535. PATENTED MAY 15, 1906.

. v G. J. WEBER.

ELECTRIC IGNITER'FOR EXPLOSIVE ENGINES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.16,1903.

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w z inesses PATENTED MAY 15, 1906.

G. Jf WEBER. ELECTRIC IGNITEB FOR EXPLOSIVE ENGINES.

APPLIGATION FILED THE. 16. 1903.

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GEORGE J. WEBER, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOUR ELECTRIC IGNITER FOREXPLOSlVE-ENGINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 15, 1906.

Application filed February 16. 1903. Qerial No. 143,661.

To (LN wit/mt it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE J. WEBER, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing in Kansas City, in the county of J ack son and Stateof Missouri, have invented a new and useful Improvement in ElectricIgniters for Explosive-Engines, of which the following is aspecification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings,forming a part thereof.

My invention relates to improvements in electric igniters forexplosive-engines.

The object of my invention is to provide an electric-igniter mechanismwith novel means for producing the spark for firing the charge.

My invention provides, further, certain adjusting means by which thetime of producing the spark may be accurately predetermined.

My invention provides, further, timing means adjustable while theengineis run ning, thus permitting the ignition of the charge at the propertime for obtaining the greatest efficiency from the explosion of thecharge.

Other novel features are hereinafter fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate my invention, Figure 1represents a plan view of the igniting mechanism, some of the partsshown in horizontal section. Fig. 2 is an inside elevation view of theblock in which are mounted the two electrodes. Fig. 3 is a verticalsectional view taken on the dotted line a b of Fig. 1 looking toward theengine-cylinder. Fig. 4 is a similar view taken on the same dotted line,but looking in the opposite direction. Fig. 5 is a vertical sectionalview of the adjustable timing mechanism, taken on the dotted line 0 d ofFig. 1. Fig. 6 is a hori zontal sectional view taken on the dotted linecf of Fig. 2, showing the stationary electrode and some of the partsconnected therewith. Fig. 7 is a view, partially in vertical section andpartially in elevation, of the igniting mechanism, the slide andarmature-shaft being shown in the retracted position with thereciprocating actuating-arm about to engage and force forward thereciprocating slide. In this view a portion of the magnetic field andparts connected therewith are shown in vertical section, the remainderof the field and the armature being shown in dotted lines. i

The slide and slide-support in this view are being broken away andothersshown partly in elevation and partly in vertical section, thevertical section being taken on the dotted line 9 h of Fig. 1. Fig. 8 isa view similar to that shown in Fig. 7, the aring omitted and the slideand parts connected therewith being shown in the positions occupied bythem when the timing mechanism has very nearly disengaged theactuatingarm from the slide, the said actuating-arm having moved theslide forward.v Fig. 9 represents a view similar to that shown in Fig.8, the magnetic field and parts connected therewith being omitted andthe slide and parts coanected therewith being shown in the positionsoccupied by them after the timing -mechanism has released the slide fromengagement with the reciprocating actuatingarm. In this figure thefurthest retracted positions of the slide and parts connected therewithare shown in dotted lines. The positions occupied by the movableelectrode.

and the crank-arm connected thereto when the electrodes have beenseparated are also shown in dotted lines.

Similar characters of reference indicate similar parts.

1 indicates the engine-cylinder having a side opening 2. Anigniter-block 3 is fitted to the outer side of the cylinder and isprovided with an inner extension 4, fitted in the opening 2. In ahorizontal opening through the block 3 extends a stationary electrode 5,insulated by a sleeve 6 of insulating material from the block 3. Theends of the sleeve 6 are provided with peripheral flanges. Against theflange at of a flange 7, provided on the inner end of the electrode 5,which is located in the opening 2 of the cylinder. Outside the block 3on the electrode 5 is mounted a washer 8, which rests against the outerflange upon the sleeve 6. The outer end of the electrode 5 isscrewthreaded and has mounted thereon two nuts 9 and 10, the inner one,10, resting against the washer 8. Between the nuts 9 and 10 is clamped.a wire '11, which is also'secured to a l shoe-shaped permanent magnets17, to which the inner end rests the rear side mature and portions ofthe magnetic field ,be-

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The armature may be wound in the manner common to this type. One end ofthe winding (indicated by is connected to the insulated sleeve 14 andthe other end connected to the armature-shaft, the circuit beingcompleted to the block 3 through the bearings 19, one of the pole-pieces18, screw 21, mounted in a screw-threaded hole in the pole-piece, thence-by a wire 22, one'end of which is securedto said screw 21', the otherend being secured to the screw 23, mounted in a screw-threaded hole inthe up )er side of the block 3. Parallel with and a )ove the electrode 5is mountedv in a horizontal hole extending through the block 3 therock-shaft 24, in the inner end of which is secured radially anelectrode 25, adapted to bear upon the innerend of the electrode 5. Uponthe outer end of the rockshaft 24 and rotatable therewith is a crank arm26, upon the outer end of which in a screw-threaded opening providedtherefor is mounted an adjusting-screw 27, which extends transverselythrou h the crank-arm and has mounted thereon a ock-nut 28, adapted tobear against the said crank-arm. To the crank-arm 26 is secured one endof a coilspring 29, the other end of which is secured to a pin 30,extending horizontally rearwardly from the block 3.

The rock-shaft 15, together with the armature 16, is oscillated to andfro by the following mechanism. A horizontal bracket 31 to the right ofthe igniter-block 3, as viewed in Fi 1, is secured at its inner end tothe outsid e of the cylinder 1 and has mounted upon its upper side aslide guide or support 32, the upper side of which is provided with agroove disposed at right angles to the armatureshai't '15. In saidgroove is recipro'catively mounted a slide 33, provided. on its upperside with a projection 34, adapted to be engaged by the free end 01 areciprocating arm 35, the opposite end of which is connected withmechanism controlled by the running of the engine and designed toreciprocate the said arm 35.

In Figs. 7, 8, and 9 I have shown a mechanism adapted for this purpose,in which 36 indicates the rotatable crank-shaft of the engine. Upon saidcrank-shaft is mounted and rotatable therewith a crank-arm 37, having acrank-pin 38, ivotally fitted in a transverse hole providerT-in the arm35. As the crank-shaft 36 is rotated the arm 35 will be reciprocated bymeans of the crank-arm 37 and pin. 38. To the left end of the slide 33,as viewed in Figs. 1, 7, 8, and 9, is secured in screw-threaded openingprovided in. said slide the screw-threaded end oi a rod 3.9,the otherend of which is pivotally connected to a crank-arm 40, rigidly securedupon the inner end of the armature-shaft 15. A ham"- mer-arrn 41 is alsosecured upon the said ar-' mature-shaft. The outer end of the saidhammer-arrn 41 is so disposed that when the armature-shaft is retractedin the proper di-- rection it will come in contact with theadjusting-screw 27 in the crank-arm 26 and move the said crank-arm 26 ina direction 1 such that the electrodes 5 and 25 will be separated fromeach other, as shown in dotted lines in- Figs. 2 and 9. Upon the upperside of the slide-support 32 is secured'the timin device, by which thearm 35 is disengage fi'om the projection 34 of the slide 33. Variousmeans may be employed for causing such disengagement.

In the form illustrated in the drawings I have provided a plate 42,disposed parallel with and at one side of the slide 33. The

right end of the said plate 42, as viewed in 55 Figs. 1, 7, 8, and 9, isinclined upwardly to the left, said inclined portion being at its upperend in a higher plane than the up er surface of the projection 34. Thefree en of the reciprocatlng arm 35 is so dis osed as to come in contactwith the incline portion of the plate 42 and by the said plate'made torise and clear the projection 34 at the proper time when disengagementof the arm 35 from the projection 34 is desired. In order that suchdisengagement may be made to occur at any desired time, I have desi nedmeans by which the plate 42 may be adjusted lengthwise. For this purposethe plate 42 is provided with a verticallongitudinal slot 43 in. whichis mounted a vertical guide-screw 44, the lower end of which is fittedto a vertical screw-threaded hole provided in the. slide-.-

support 32. vie'wed'in Figs. 1 and 5, is providedwith a longitudinalscrew-threaded hole, in which is fitted the right screw-threaded end ofan adjusting-screw-45, which is rotatively mount ed in a transverse holeprovided in a Vertical projection'46 on the upper side of the slidesupport 32. The said adjusting-screw 45 is provided at the right of theprojection 46' with a peripheral flan e 47 for preventing lengthwisemovement 0 the said screw in one direction. Movement in the oppositedirection is prevented by means of a collar 48, rigidly secured upon thesaid adjusting-screw and bearing upon the left side of the projec-- tion46. By turning the said adjustin -screw 45 in the proper direction theplate 42 ma be adjusted longitudinally to the proper posi- The left endof the plate 42, as

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tion, after which the guide-screw 44 is turned so asto cause theheadthereof to bear tightly upon the upper side of the plate 42, thus insurmg the permanent disposition oi the plate 42 in the place desired.

Secured to the left end of the slide-support 32, as viewed in Figs. 1,7, 8, and 9, is a slightly-inclined plate 49, the left end of which isbent upwardly at right angles and is ISO provided in such bent portionwith a transverse hole through which the rod 39 may be reciprocated.Encircling the rod 39 is a coil spring 50, one end of which is securedto the bent portion of the plate 49, the other end being secured to alongitudinally-adjustable split sleeve 51, mountedon the rod 39 andadapted to be rigidly secured thereto after it has been properlyadjusted by means of a transverse screw 52, rotatively mounted inoppositely-disposed holes in the s lit portion of the said sleeve 51. Inone 0 said holes the said screw 52 has no screw-thread engagement; butthe otherof said holes is screwthreaded and fitted to the said screw. Byturning the said screw 52 in the proper direction the sleeve 51 may beloosened upon the rod 39, adjusted longitudinally thereon to the properposition, and then rigidly secured in position by tightening the screw52.

The tension of the spring 50 is such that after the spring has beencompressed, as shown in Fig. 8, and then permitted to become extended,as shown in Fig. 9, through disengagement of the arm from the projection34 the said spring 50 will force the slide 33 and rod 39 to the right,thus oscillating the armature-shaft 15 in a direction such that thehammer-arm 41 will come in contact forcibly with the end of theadjusting-screw 27. The inertia of the slide 33 together with the forceof the spring 50, will force the parts into the position shown in dottedlines in Fig. 9-that spring 50 to the positions shown in is, thehammer-arm 41 will force the crank arm 26 to move in a direction suchthat the electrodes 5 and 25 will become separated. After the inertia ofthe slide 33 has been overcome the spring 29 and the spring 50 willcause a retraction of'the parts into the position shown in solid linesin Fig. 9, in which position the electrodes 5 and 25 will again come incontact, thus completing the electric circuit.

In operating my invention, the parts having been assembled as describedand the parts adjusted so that the electrodes 5 and 25 will be separatedat approximately the proper time, the engine is started. As the enginecrank-shaft 36 is rotated the slide 33 will be moved to the left, asviewed in Figs. 1, 7, 8, and 9, by the mechanism already described tothe position shown in Fig. 8. In this position the armature-shaft willbe oscillated in a direction such that the hammer-arm 41 will be asshown in Fig. 3. In the meantime the free end of the arm 35 will havebeen raised by the inclined portion of the plate 42, so as to nearlyclear the projection34. Continued movement forward of the arm 35 willcause it to be clearedfrom the projection, 34, and

be retracted by the Fig. 9, thus causing the ha'mmerarm 41 .to strikethe screw 27 and force the electrodes 5 and 25 apart, as alreadydescribed.- While the arthe slide 33 will then .lar speed mature-shaft15, slide 33, and parts connected therewith are being retracted from thepositions shown in Fig. 8 to those, shown in Fig.

9, the armature 16, carried by the shaft 15, will be oscillated so as topass from one polepiece- 18 toward the opposite pole-piece. Thismovement of the armature will cause a cur-= rent to be generated in thearmature-windingo 20, the said current passing in one direction or theother in the circuit in which the armsture-winding is located, thedirection depend ing upon the polarity of the pole-pieces and the mannerof winding the wire on the armature. If the current passes first fromthe winding 20 to the commutator 14, it will ass from thence to the wire1.1 by means of the brush 12, thence through the electrodes 5 and 25 tothe igniter-block 3, thence by the screw 23, wire 22, screw 21,pole-piece 18 to bearings 19, thence by armature-shaft 15' tothe end ofthe armature-winding which is secured to the said shaft. The crank-arms26 and 41 are so adjusted upon their respective shafts that the screw 27will be struck by the crank hammer-arm 41 at a time when the currentgenerated in the circuit will be near its maximum strength. Thehammer-arm 41 striking the anvil mechanism, consisting of the screw 27and the crank-arm 26, will cause the electrode rock-shaft 24 tooscillate, so as to separate the electrodes 5 and 25 at the time whenthe strength of the electric current in the circuit is at its maximumstrength. The timing mechanism, of which the plate 42 forms a part, willbe so adjusted that when the spark occurs, due to the separation of theelectrodes 5 and 25, the charge in the cylinder 1 will be very near itsmaximum compression. The time of separating the electrodes may befurther regulated by adjusting the sleeve 51 longitudinally on the rod39.

the sleeve 51 in the proper direction the uicker the electrodes will beseparated, as t e spring 29 will be sooner overcome and permit amovement of the crank-arm 26. By adjusting the screw 27 the time forseparating the electrodes may also be varied. After the engine has begunto run at its reguthe adjustment of the time for producing the sparkbetween the electrodes 5 and 25 may be obtained withgreat exactness, sothat the charge may be fired at the exact time required for the greatesteflieiency; T 0 make this adjustment while the engine is The morecompression given the spring 50 by movingrunning, the clamping-screw 44is slightly when the engine is running at a slower speed.

So when it is desired to increase the speed of 35 fromthe projectionafter which the the engine to secure the greatest efficiency from theexpansive force ol' the charge in the cylinder it becomes necessary tolire the charge earlier. scribed, while the engine is running by turningthe screw 45 in the proper directiorr to advance the plate 42 toward thearm"35,

screw 44 is tightened to preserve the adjustment obtained.

Anyone versed in the art will understand the great advantage of beingable to adjust the time of firing the charge while the engine is runningat its regular working speed, as at this time the operator can exactlydetermine the proper time for producing the firingspark.

In order that the crank-arm 26 and the hammer-arm 4] may hold theirrelative positions with respect to each other intact, I prefer to mountthe plate or board 13 upon a horizontal bracket 53, the inner end ofwhich is provided with a vertical flange 54, secured rigidly to theigniter-block 3. The irwiter-block 3, which is such as are commonly usedin engines of this type, may be sent, together with the magneto-electricmachine and some of the parts connected therewith, anglfitted to anengine in lieu of a similarigniter-block provided with another sparkingmechanism. The bracket 31, together with the parts mounted thereon, mayalso.

be sent from the factory ready to mount on an engine already set up. Insuch cases it is but necessary to connect the rod 39 to the crank-arm 40after the brackets 53 and 31 are secured in place.

The rod 39 being quite long and slender, lack of sulficient space on thesheet preventing its full length being shown, the end connected with thecrank-arm 40 can yield the amount required to follow the are describedby fro.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire-to secureby Letters Patent, is

1. In igniters for explosive-engines, the combination with an electriccircuit having included therein two electrodes, of means for normallyholding the electrodes in contact with each other, a magnetic field, anoscillatory armature located in said field and included in said.circuit, a reciprocating slide, means controlled by the running of theengine for moving the slide in one direction, means for moving the slidein the opposite direction, means for oscillating the armature by meansof the siide, means for separating the electrodes when the slide ismoved in said opposite direction, and means for timing the movement ofthe said slide in said opposite direction.

2. In igniters for e:q losiveengines, the con'ibination with an electriccircuit having included therein two electrodes, of means for This may bedone, as de the said crank-arm in oscillating to and separating theelectrodes when the slide is retracted.

3. In igniters for explosivO-engines, the combination with an electriccircuit having included therein two electrodes, one of which is movable,of means for normally holding the said electrodes in contact with eachother, a magnetic field, an oscillatory armature lo cated in said fieldand included in said cir cuit, a reciprocating slide, means controlledby the running of the engine for moving the slide in one direction, aspring for retracting the slide, means for oscillating the armature bymeans of the slide, timing means adjustable independently of the runninof the engine for determining the time o retracting the slide, andadjustable means for separating the electrodes when the slide isretracted.

4. In igniters for explosive-engines, the

combination with an electric circuit having mcludezl therem twoelectrodes one of which Is movable relative to the other, of means fornormally holding the electrod'esin contact with each other, a magneticfield, an oscillatory armature located in said field and included insaid circuit, a reciprocating slide, means by which the armature isoscillated by means of the slide, means controlled by the running of theengine for moving the slide in one direction, means for retracting theslide in the opposite direct-ion and. two arms, one oscillatory with thearmature and the other mounted on the movable electrode the said twoarms being so disposed that the arm carried by the armature will strikethe electrodearm and cause a separation of the electrodes when the slideis retracted.

5. In igniters for explosive-engines, the combination with anoscillatory armatureshaft, of a hammer-arm oscillatory therewith, areciprocating slide, means controlled by the running of the engine formoving the slide in.

one direction, springactuated mechanism for retracting the slide, timingmeans controlling the retraction of the slice, means for oscillating thearmature-shaft by means of the slide, two electrodes, one fixed and theother movable, the movable electrode being pr o-- vided with an arm, anadjusting-screw rotatably mounted in said arm and adapted to be struck bthe hammer-arm when the armature-shaft is retracted, and means fornormally holding the two electrodes in contact with each other.

6. In igniters for explosive-engines, the

ceases combination with an electric circuit having included therein twoelectrodes, of means for holding the electrodes normally in contact witheach other, an oscillatory armature, a reciprocating slide, means foroscillating the armature by means of the slid e, a reciprocatingactuating device reciprocated by the running of the engine and providedwith means for engaging and moving the slide in one direction, atripping device for releasing the slide from the actuating device, meansfor retracting the slide, and means for. separating the electrodes whenthe slide is retracted.

In igniters for explosive-engines, the combination with an electriccircuit having included therein. two electrodes, of means for holdingthe electrodes normally in contact with each other, an oscillatoryarmature included in the said circuit, a reciprocating slide, means foroscillating the armature by means of the slide, a reciprocatingactuating device reciprocated by the running of the engine and providedwith means for engaging and moving the slide in one direction, anadjustable tripping device for releasing the slide from the actuatingdevice, means for retracting the slide when the same is released fromthe actuating device, and means ior separat- 1ng the electrodes when theslide is retracted. 8. In igniters for exploslve-engines, the

combination with an electric circuit of two -electrodes one of which ismovable toward and from the other, means for normally holding theelectrodes in contact with each other, an oscillatory armature providedwith awinding included in the said circuit, an oscillatory shaft onwhich the armature is mounted, a crank carried by said shaft, areciprocating slide, a rod connecting said slide and said crank, amagnetic "field in which the armature is located, means controlled bythe running of the engine for moving the slide in one direction, meansfor retracting the slide in the opposite direction, adjustable timing[means for determining the time of retraction of the slide, and meansfor separating the electrodes when the slide is retracted.

In testimony whereof l have signed my name to this specification inpresence of the two subscribing Witnesses.

, GEORGE J. WEBER.

Witnesses:

WARREN D. House,- Jassrn R. CoMsrocK.

